There are many techniques that authors use to communicate their message within their work. Each of these literary techniques has their own purpose in influencing how the reader perceives what he or she reads. Frank O'Connor, the author of the short story "The Drunkard," and Shirley Jackson, the author of "The Lottery," used the literary technique of different points of view to portray their underlying messages. The story "The Drunkard" is written in a first person reflective point of view, while, "The Lottery" is written in a third person objective point of view. Despite that these stories are written in two completely opposite points of view, they are still both consistent in conveying their messages to the reader.

The first person point of view allows the story to be told from the narrator's perspective; which tends to be more personal. The short story "The Drunkard" is written in the first person reflective point of view, which means the narrator is reflecting on a memory from his or her past. The narrator in "The Drunkard," also named Larry, is describing a memory from his childhood from when he was eight years old. The memory mainly revolves around his father. Due to the story being written from this specific point of view, the reader is able to dive inside Larry's head and learn of his thoughts and feelings towards his father. Larry describes his father as "a well-read man [that] could appreciate an intelligent talker," and he introduces his father's addiction by saying, "Drink you see, was [his] great weakness" (281 -282). Also the reflective manner of the point of view allows the reader to understand how Larry viewed his father as a child, "he was first up in the morning and brought the mother a cup of tea in bed, stayed home in the evenings and read the paper; saved money and...He laughed at the folly of the men who week in, week out, left their hard- earned money with the publicans," along with his thoughts...

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Life of Pi
Vs.
The Catcher in the Rye
-A ComparativeEssay
All literature contains a purpose behind it—an underlying message that the author is trying to convey. As a result of this, most novels typically tend to focus on several specific areas, leaving other areas less explored. Setting, main character, and conflict are arguably the three most important elements of a novel. Novels such as Life of Pi by Yann Martel and The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger demonstrate the importance of these three elements, yet highlight these areas to different degrees. Much of this variation is due to the different genres and styles of both books. Classic coming of age novels like The Catcher in the Rye typically focus on the maturation of the protagonist, while a more contemporary novel like Life of Pi is more abstract in its style and values. These differences allow for comparisons to be made between the two novels based on these three aspects. While Life of Pi is stronger in its portrayal of the setting, The Catcher in the Rye illustrates the main character and conflict more thoroughly and effectively.
The setting of a novel refers to the environment in which the narrative takes place. Oftentimes, the setting is a key factor in determining the meaning of the story or the intentions of the author, since the context of a situation can determine the conflict or the plot. This is especially evident in Martel’s Life of Pi. In this...

...﻿There are many alarming issues in the world, and each day there are more problems and complaints and less solutions and good actions. Many of these issues are based on the environmental problems. This concerns everybody, but almost nobody tries to do something about it. As regards this, many organizations have been starting to do campaigns against pollution, and trying to encourage people to care about the Earth.
Both text 2A “Both Text 2A “Terrified” and Text 2B “Friends of the earth, what your support can do” are clear instances of environmental problems. The former, an extract of a novel written by Arthur Tofte in 1987, which is about an alien who arrives to Earth and talks with a boy named Bob about the horrible conditions of the Earth in which Bob lives in. The latter, a recruitment leaflet created by Friend of the Earth in 1994, shows an immediate need for cooperation in order to improve nowadays environmental conditions. Although both texts strike the theme of environmental problems, they differ as regards tone, formal elements, point of view, purpose, audience and genre.
One aspect in which Text 2A and Text 2B are similar is audience. Both texts can be addressed to adolescents and young people. On the one hand, text 2B is written for that kind of audience since adolescents and young people have more energy to perform the variety of tasks suggested by the leaflet such as encouraging sustainable agriculture and forcing the clean-up of rivers and drinking water,...

...story in particular that uses a sense of ritualistic nature is the short story “The Lottery” also written by Shirley Jackson. This story is about a village that is subject to around 300 villagers that have a certain tradition which is a special type of “lottery” that happens every year; the “winner” is to be stoned to death by their fellow neighbours. Jackson also stresses the importance of human nature, which is that humans are conditioned to do what is taught since birth. Jackson also uses Ritualistic features that are not just the lottery itself but actions and the way the lottery is done is very ritualistic in a sense.
It was the same thing every year when the lottery came into play in the summer time, nothing has ever changed, and the villagers have done everything the way their elders did it and so forth. In a sense it was a ritualistic “tradition”. Jackson shows use of ritualistic nature in the very first paragraph about how the lottery was always on a specific date which was June 27th, except “in some towns there were so many people that the lottery took two days and had to be started on June 26th” (293), this shows the reader how dedicated the towns people are to a tradition that has been with them for as long as they can remember, and how the villagers would all meet in the same place every time which was always between the post office and the bank around 10am. In...

...peoples’ working conditions could possibly have a group malfunction as in co-workers can be racist to one another.
2. We are told a lot about the lottery, but not its exact purpose. Do the townspeople know? Is this omission significant? Intentional?
No, the townspeople do not know the lottery’s exact purpose. This omission is not significant because it seems there is no point in the lottery and why these people are operating such horrid acts. It is more intentional; the townspeople are playing it safe thinking they are keeping a tradition, yet no one seems brave enough to ask why?
3. Why is much of the history of the lottery and the black box uncertain and vague? Why does Mr. Summers have to ask a question that he and everybody else already know the answer to?
Much of the history of the lottery and the black box are vague and uncertain because it has been an ‘old’ tradition amongst these three hundred townspeople. The black box that was being used was made of some pieces from the original black box that had been lost long ago when the first people settled down to make a village (134). Mr. Summers asks already known questions because he is trying to re-assure the townspeople, and or trying to keep up with what is supposed to be said in the same lottery tradition as before.
4. The box used in the lottery is mentioned almost thirty times in the story-more than ten times...

...﻿JD Hatefi
April 10, 2014
Essay 3; Arguable EssayLottery: Winning is Losing
Imagine a world where spending a dollar gives you millions in return. For the rest of your life you live comfortably because you took change out of your pocket. Everyone would right? That sort of ideal is exactly what makes the lottery one of the biggest grossing businesses to date. People from all around America spend a dollar on lottery tickets to hopefully win the jackpot of $656 million. Whether rich or poor, the outcome is far too great to grasp. In fact, statistics show the poorer tend to be the ones spending the most on the dreamy reward, which theoretically makes sense due to the fact that they’re the ones most desperate. But are lottery tickets a scam? Then, if so, why do we people keep purchasing? Lotteries prey on the poor and even the lucky winners feel they were cursed. Lotteries weren’t always in existence and were banned in many countries including the US. That is until World War 2 happened; the government was in debt so they allowed the lottery to increase revenue without raising taxes. That all sounds great and dandy, but it isn’t without its major flaws. The chances of winning in the 2012 US Mega Millions lottery were a likelihood of 1 in 259,000,000 or the Powerball jackpot with a chance of 1 in 175.2 million. There’s a more likelihood...

...Inborn Evil and Weakness of Mankind Displayed in “The Lottery”
“It may be that we are puppets-puppets controlled by the strings of society. But at least we are puppets with perception, with awareness, and perhaps our awareness is the first step to our liberation.” This insightful quote was once said by Psychologist Stanley Milgram who received his PhD in Psychology at the age of 28 (Blass 69). In the short story “The Lottery”, a fictional tale written by Shirley Jackson in 1948, a close community is described with their strict traditions. “The Lottery” includes many of the qualities from Jackson’s other stories such as a female protagonist, an unknown setting, irony, and a human problem (Parks 321). Readers are misguided with Jackson’s use of irony to believe that the townspeople are going to win some form of prize in this lottery. However, the audience discovers that the winner of the lottery does not win a prize at all. The community has their own opinions on the customs that have been around for over seventy-seven years, but none are willing to make a change. Also, many symbols are found throughout the story including the society in relation to our society today. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson ironically describes mankind’s inborn sense of evil and weakness that has been around since the beginning of time.
Jackson uses ironic language throughout her short story. The biggest...

...ComparativeEssay
Chinese Cinderella, Sink or Swim
Chinese Cinderella written by Adeline Yen Mah, is regarding a young girl which is considered to be the cause of her mother’s death and is identified as bad luck. After the death of her mother, a year later her father remarries a French woman, who Adeline and her siblings call Niang – meaning stepmother. Niang has two children which are now Adeline’s stepbrother/sister. Niang’s children are always favoured and receive the best of everything. Adeline struggles through life up to the age of fourteen when she proves to her family that she is more than what meets the eye, and proves to them that she is equal to everyone else, and tries her hardest so that she can be accepted for who she is. Sink or Swim written by Ron Bunney, tells the story of a boy named Bazza at the age of 15/16 who runs away from home and makes his own way in life. While on this adventure, he comes across a fisherman named Earl who provides him with hospitality and gives him a job as a ‘decky’. The boys’ bond becomes closer and they develop into good friends. In my essay, I am going to discuss the similarities between both texts. The topics I am going to discuss within my essay are loneliness, feeling of being unwanted and self - esteem.
Loneliness is a feeling of isolation, which is expressed by many unwanted children. This feeling is demonstrated in both texts by the two main characters; Adeline...

...﻿Comparative
The Roman Empire and China developed into two of the major civilizations of the classical era. Though located on separate continents, they shared many characteristics, including the reasons for their collapse. Disease, internal, and external conflicts caused the declines both empires with the moving of Rome’s capital also being a factor in its fall; however the outcomes of their falls were different since China remained unified because of Confucianism.
The eventual fall of the Chinese and Roman civilizations was the result of a slow decline.
Conflict within the political systems of the Roman Empire and Han China was another factor that led to their fall. In the years during the civilizations’ decline, rulers had become corrupted and made decisions that ultimately hurt their society. Disagreements also arose in the Roman Empire between the wealthy landowners and the peasants who farmed the land. The same was true in China at the time.
Furthermore, both civilizations were major centers of trade. Diseases were carried along trade routes – infecting and killing significant numbers of people. This large decrease in the populations of Rome and China weakened the empires, which in turn contributed to their downfalls.
Both empires had large borders that were difficult and costly to protect. During the 4th and 5th centuries, the empires warred against the Huns, and in Rome’s case, against Germanic tribes as well. After Rome’s capital was moved...